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December 26, 2016

Year End Giving 2016

Every year we try to donate to at least 10 organizations and causes that we believe in and support. It's a tradition we began together when we got married (in lieu of wedding favors, we donated to the Arbor Day Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund).

As with voting, I encounter a lot of people who think giving just $5 or $20 won't make much of a difference. And so they put giving on their to-do list for when they make enough money to be able to give thousands or hundreds of dollars.

But perhaps if we thought of it this way -- that you and I are are among thousands of people who decide to give $5 for a specific cause. That $5 would amount to a large sum pretty quickly.

Donating just $5 means giving up a fancy drink at Starbucks for a day. If you get Starbucks every day for a week, you can give it up and you've already come up with $35. If you can get 10 of your friends to donate $5 for one week (creating a "give up buying coffee for one week" pact together makes for a fun fundraising effort to do with your friends and family), you've just raised $350.

For me, while funds are important (hence why there are fundraising efforts), I also like the idea of tens of thousands of little ordinary people like you and me coming together to do something big and meaningful. Nothing is impossible when people come together. It's a great thought to end the year with, isn't it?

And so I end by saying what I say every year, at the end of the year -- year end giving is my favorite kind of fundraising effort. It's a time when a lot of organizations look back on all their accomplishments - the campaigns they thought were impossible, the miracles that captured everyone's hearts and the people who came together to make it happen - and gear up to tackle the impossible again in the new year.

It's not too late to give to the causes near and dear to your heart. Consider donating before the year is out.